Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 1 of 9

MASTERING CHANGE SYMPOSIUM

The College of Organisational Psychologists and the

APS Interest Group for Coaching Psychology 24 July 2010

1 O’Connell Street Sydney

Mastering Change Workshop

Participants’ Background notes

“Working with Chameleons” presented by Phillip Hartin

Working with Chameleons

Mastering Change Workshop

Participants’ Background notes

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 2 of 9

0rganisational change is about assessing and making informed judgements about risks, against

proposed agendas, preparing impeccable cases and then lobbying the key players/stakeholders, across

the organisation, government and other agencies for support, indicating the wider benefits possible

from the proposed changes.

The perception and understanding of RISK in initiating and managing change is a key element because it

introduces uncertainty/anxiety/apprehension about organisational direction and threatens people’s

security. This impacts on the individuals’ perceptions of job position, income, status, life style,

ambitions etc.

The underlying forces that often pre empt organisational change in the public and

private sector

During the past two decades, most governments in the major developed countries have attempted to

pursue greater efficiencies in public sector expenditure. A new “managerialism” derived primarily from

the private sector has been introduced to restructure public sector agencies, generally along corporate

lines, but with the significant dimension of accountability for performance and outcomes.

These public service reforms were originally part of a national agenda initiated by the Commonwealth

Government, specifically to maintain Australian living standards, increase national competitiveness and

deliver a new accountability and management process within the State and Territory public service

industry.

For example:

• Funding which is now significantly more outcome-driven and aligned to accountabilities related to

performance evaluation.

• Government expects a competitive core service delivery that is sensitive to, and able to

accommodate, a broad band of stakeholders’ expectations.

• Moving a public service culture from a reactive, rules and process driven system to one that is

more strategic, preventative and assesses risks before the events.

• Entrepreneurial market-driven government, capable of sustaining competitive advantage,

developing a quicker response time, a flatter structure that can devolve accountability, ownership

and outcomes through a cross-functional team approach.

The distinction between the public sector and the private sector, in a service-driven economy is blurred, as

the demand for greater accountability of scarce public funding is imposed across all agencies. The public

sector is still coming to terms with these continuing reductions in Government funding which are forcing

cost/service delivery to the point where basic health, transport, education, law and order issues such as

road safety, property crime and personal and public security are being questioned as to their adequacy by

the community.

The outcome of reduced funding is often to keep the respective public sectors functioning in an ad hoc,

fragmented and reactionary manner. Many sectors are still grappling with insufficient resources to ensure

responsible and accountable levels of operational supervision and management throughout the

organisation. This leaves little time for implementing a value-added, problem-solving response, to address

the issues with any purposeful or lasting effect.

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 3 of 9

Similarly, accountability and performance issues are under continuous public scrutiny, often driven by

media sensationalism and investigative journalism. The role of the Ombudsman and Civil Libertarian

based organisations, facilitates a continual focus on exhaustive, time and resource consuming internal and

periodically, external investigative processes.

In Implementing change, reshaping policy, process and procedures, negotiating commitment and

ongoing support for change initiatives in the private and public sector, I have consistently identified a

number of variables that, when they emerge collectively, impact significantly on one’s capacity to get

things done. Often this “bigger picture” awareness is overlooked in gaining a comprehensive review of

the organisational setting. These variables are:

• A dominant “elitist” government

across the social, political and

economic environment, eg, in the

Northern Territory the Country Liberal

Party had been in power continuously

for 27 years. Similarly the NSW Labour

Govt. The Menzies era and previously

the Howard Govt.

• Close business links between the public

and private sector. This included

Ministers and Members of Parliament

being heavily involved in the

engagement of business between the

public and private sector.

• Little or no independence of the

Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.

• Referent power being dominant within

the public sector in gathering a

preferred and often known order for

• getting things done and who would be

given the preference.

• Influential lobby groups, fragmented

power factions and excessive numbers

of independent scrutineering bodies

that may or may not be effective.

• An ineffective, often fragmented

Opposition attempting to deal with a

personalised authoritative political

power base.

• Organisational atrophy; the increasing

importance, even dominance of the

Union or industrial association to the

members, particularly in seeking

scapegoats for the problems

At an organisational level and particularly from an operational level, the following negative

indicators/blockages often occur as a result of the above scenarios:

• No responsibility, no accountability

therefore a no-blame syndrome and a

comfort zone/territorial protection of

one’s patch to the point where security

and protection of position is valued

above all else.

• Leadership, decision-making and

organisational direction become blurred,

fragmented and cease to have meaning

for the troops at the workface.

• Resource duplication and inefficiencies

creep in, particularly the shelving of

projects, as ideas and initiatives for on-

going change drop away.

• Concurrent with the above there

appears to be an unrealistic increase in

paper administration, that is, if it was

not written down it did not occur. This

results in processes, procedures and

systems being unable to cope with the

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 4 of 9

“paper chase”. This is reflected in

people and resource-overloads.

• The competent tend to do more while

the work-to-rule group slow even more

resulting in burn-out of high work

output, ethical people and loss of these

from the organisation. This frustration,

resentment and loss in productivity

often results in “stress leave” and we see

the rise of the less-than-mediocre in the

bureaucracy and the referent power

mongers gaining ascendancy.

• Within the organisation, zero risk within

job specifications becomes the order of

the day and getting back at the system

through late arrivals, extended breaks,

early leaving, petty theft, to major

criminal offences, particularly fraud,

embezzlement, and discriminatory

practices may prevail.

Underlying Elements that may/will require your analysis and understanding in

preparing people and systems for change as well as selecting the technical tools

to assist you

Part of the practitioner’s role is about identifying gaps in operational, supervisory, managerial and

leadership knowledge, skills, ability and behavioural competencies against work specifications, within the

resource limitations of the budget and resolving the systems and people barriers/blockages to sustain a

competitive business advantage.

It is also about preparing people and organisations for solving complex problems, coping with ambiguities,

paradox and discontinuity. It emphasises productivity, performance and profit [a constant and essential

focus in the private sector] and early involvement in corporate strategy and business planning, aligning the

two with organisational objectives.

Organisational change in the current decade is attempting to meet these variables:

• Greater flexibility in its structure and capacity to change that structure according to the core

business demands.

• Commitment to, and recognition of the individual, in that they hold the knowledge, skills and

ability to get the work done.

• Superior use of teams that can be drawn together and disbanded after resolving problems and

projects.

• A continuous learning environment.

• The utilisation of diversity.

• Engagement of the knowledge economy, ie, encouraging individuals at all levels of the

organisation to develop and share knowledge, to take responsibility for their intellectual input and

outcomes; to be innovative; to take risks; to analyse important problems and use a mix of limited

resources to solve them.

Informed organisations recognise that the knowledge workers own the “means of production” in the

Service sector. They can take this with them at any moment, therefore, the organisation must attract,

motivate, reward, recognise, train, retain and educate its workforce to deliver outcomes, to meet business

objectives.

Organisations recognise that workplace learning will no longer be in a fixed time and location for a “just in

case” needs, it is about delivering what is needed “just in time” and “just where” needed.

Alternate methods of service delivery will continue to invest and utilise technology to bring groups of

geographically dispersed people together, electronically, for specific learning projects, problem-solving

and business case analysis.

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 5 of 9

Team Building - Some Basic Considerations

Consider these parameters:

• Function as a specialist and a generalist, with the capacity to integrate with project teams yet still

retain responsibility and accountability for the outcomes.

• Ensure that you do your homework in obtaining all the facts before contributing and making

judgements.

• Demonstrate professional integrity and credibility, be honest, be fair, avoiding favourites and

recognising others’ efforts regardless of positional status.

• Continually apply your knowledge of human behaviour and individual responses through continual

learning.

• Trust, take and encourage risks and support those that demonstrate initiative and think

differently.

• Share credit and celebrate success with the team.

Workshop Topics

Consider the techniques, methods and tools you might consider to resolve the following Workshop

Scenarios:

1. Public Sector Organisation

o A major organisational, educational and cultural change program

o Sworn and unsworn members ie public servants

o Political and Community interface – volatile and reactionary; strong union and association

representation all members in the unions

o Reporting to the Commissioner and Board of Management and CEO of the Public Service

o External Review identifies 80 organisational changes required but significantly more required.

Major elements for change:

� Design, develop and implement operational, technical, supervisory, managerial and leadership

training and development within the national competency and qualifications framework.

� Design and implement a merit based promotion system for all sworn officer ranks ie move from

written examination and seniority promotion to a competency based merit system and

incorporate succession planning

� Redesign and implement new recruitment procedures and processes and reduce costs by a

significant amount.

� Design and implement a Probationary Constables program of T&D that will be competency based

and retain currency of competence from conclusion of recruit training for all current members, eg

Driver Training, Defensive Tactics and Weapons training.

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 6 of 9

� Design and implement work place training and career paths for Aboriginal Community Police

Officers and Auxiliary Police Officers. Ensure Recognition of Prior Learning.

� Design and implement advanced training for Detectives, Forensics and Crime Scene Investigations.

Private Sector - Manufacturing

o Systems and Culture change. Mixed nationalities; male dominated

o Prestige designer, manufacturer, and fit out of corporate refurbishment.

o The company has a national identity with clients in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and USA.

� Investigate levels of profitability; Company was going out backwards yet had work in advance

for two years

� Re design outmoded systems of processes and management practices. Move the company

back to profitability.

Financial Services Sector

� Design and implement a national organisational change and restructuring program in

collaboration with GMs to:

� Reduce resource duplication and remain within allocates staff budget and head count

� Provide coaching, conflict resolution and retrenchment protocols to avoid industrial action.

� Develop individual and team performance to establish quality outcomes against negotiated

position descriptions.

Mixed Manufacturing and Services: An Example of vertical integration issues

“Change an organisational structure, unsuited to a performance/profit driven process to one that

incorporates a specialised support system with a fluid team approach”

- GM People

� That is, move the organisation from a paternal, over resourced support system, with blurred

accountability, to a sustainable, integrated business cell, with effective and responsible internal and

external communication. The outcome must refocus on customer service.

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 7 of 9

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 8 of 9

Working with Chameleons - Phillip Hartin – page 9 of 9